Luton ends 31year drought
LONDON: Luton Town will play in the Premier League for the first time after beating Coventry City 65 on penalties in yesterday’s Championship playoff final at Wembley Stadium, earning a return to England’s top flight after a 31year absence.
Coventry’s Fankaty Dabo blazed his spot kick over the crossbar after the shootout went into sudden death following a 11 draw and a tense but goalless period of extra time, when Luton’s Joe Taylor had a late goal disallowed due to hand ball.
A secondhalf equaliser from Coventry midfielder Gustavo Hamer cancelled out Jordan Clark’s brilliant opener, after Luton captain Tom Lockyer was carried off on a stretcher early on after he collapsed on the pitch.
Luton confirmed Lockyer (28) was responsive and talking to his family after he was taken to hospital for tests.
The centre back had fallen to the ground with no player around him and was treated by medical staff on the pitch.
‘‘It feels incredible,’’ Luton manager Rob Edwards said.
‘‘I’ve got to be honest. The only thing I’m thinking about now is Tom Lockyer . . . Health is the most important thing, more important than football.’’
Luton will join Burnley and Sheffield United in next season’s Premier League. Its Kenilworth Road stadium will host topflight football for the first time since 1992, when it was relegated from the old First Division.
The victory caps a remarkable change in fortunes for Luton, which was playing in the fifthtier Conference nine years ago after a decade of financial hardship. it is the first team to go from the top tier to nonleague and back.
‘‘I’ve completed football! I’ll retire this summer,’’Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, who has played for Luton at every level on its dizzying rise, said.